Poultry Farmers Task FG on Sustainable Poultry Devt Plan

Gilbert Ekugbe

The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has charged the federal government to establish a sustainable poultry development policy with a clear cut action plan in its bid to salvage the sector from collapse.

The National President of PAN, Mr. Sunday Ezeobiora, made the call during a courtesy visit to the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari in Abuja recently.

Ezeobiora stated that there were heightened tensions, apprehensions and fears over the entire poultry landscape in the country at the moment, which he said was in relation to the seeming refusal of the restrictions placed on the importation of poultry and poultry products like eggs, dairy products among others.

He pointed out that the association clamoured for more political will from government to initiate a sustainable poultry development policy with a clear cut action plan, noting that the recent development (according to the pronouncement from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would return Nigeria to conditions that existed before Year 2000 when Nigeria was completely a dumping ground for all sorts of imported poultry products.

Ezeobiora also highlighted the implications and requested for specific quick win incentives to allow for the importation of 3 million metric tonnes of maize and 500,000 tonnes of soyabean to augment the supply and demand situation for the 2023/2024 poultry farming seasons among other things.

Earlier, the minister expressed the ministry’s readiness to tackle the challenges faced by poultry farmers and boost food and nutrition security in the country.

He pointed out that the current state of food security was threatened by issues of availability and affordability, stressing that malnutrition and rates of food inflation required that we work all year round to ensure increased food production while putting in place, measures to make food available, accessible, and affordable for the populace.